Years
by SilenceEchoes39
Summary: From infancy to adulthood. Over the years, Mikoto had watched their love grow.
1. 0 Years

_I originally intended this to be a oneshot, but then I decided to make it a multi-chapter fic, since I rarely write those. More chapters to come soon, since I've already got all of them written out except for the last one._

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0 years

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It was lovely sunny spring day and Mikoto chose to spend it by taking her two sons to the park and catch up with her old friend from high school, Mebuki Haruno.

They sat on the bench, not too far away from the playground that Mikoto's five-year-old son, Itachi, was playing on. The two women chatted, telling each other about all the fascinating and exciting things that occurred in their lives since they last saw each other. Mikoto's three-month-old son, Sasuke slept soundly in her arms while Mebuki's seven-month-old daughter, Sakura gulped greedily from the bottle of milk that was being fed to her.

Once Sakura had had her fill of milk, the pink-haired baby shifted her attention to the sleeping Sasuke in Mikoto's arms and clumsily moved about in Mebuki's arms to get a closer look at Sasuke. Mikoto smiled when she saw Sakura's toothless smile. The little girl gurgled happily and then reached out a chubby little hand and landed a soft smack against Sasuke's forehead, effectively waking him up.

"Sakura." Mebuki laughed while pulling her daughter away, who whined in protest. "Don't hit poor Sasuke while he's sleeping. That's not very nice."

But Sasuke didn't seem bothered by his rude awakening. Instead, he blinked his big black eyes a couple of times before they fell shut and he went back to sleep.

Sakura whimpered and continued to reach out to Sasuke while Mebuki held her back. Mikoto couldn't help but laugh.

"It seems that Sakura is quite taken with Sasuke." Mebuki chuckled nervously.

"So it seems."

"Sakura, it's far too early for you to be interested in boys. What will your daddy say?"

Sakura only struggled harder to free herself from Mebuki's hold, tears were now falling down her chubby cheeks. Mikoto looked from Sakura to her son who was still sleeping and blissfully unaware of the commotion.

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 _Reviews are greatly appreciated :)_


	2. 7 Years

_7 years_

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Mikoto flipped through a magazine to pass the time as she sat in her car waiting for kids to come out of school. She had decided to take Fugaku's prized Toyota to pick up the kids today, because Sasuke was bringing a couple of friends home. Naruto Uzumaki, the son of Mikoto's best friend, Kushina and Sakura Haruno.

Mikoto didn't have to wait much longer when she Itachi come around the corner up ahead, shortly followed by Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto. As they approached the car, Mikoto couldn't help but think how cute all four of them looked walking together, dressed in their matching school uniforms. When they got home, she was going to take a picture of them, whether they liked it or not.

Mikoto opened up the boot for them to put their schoolbags in and then Itachi got into the front seat while Sasuke and his friends piled into the back.

"Hello mother." Itachi said as soon as he opened the door, offering his mother a smile.

"Hello, Itachi." She replied and then turned around to face the children in the back. "Hi kids."

"Hi, mum."

"Hi Mrs. Uchiha."

"Hey Auntie Mikoto!"

Mikoto smiled. "Did you all have a good day at school today?"

"Yes."

"Yep."

"Yes, mother."

Itachi, Sasuke and Sakura all said in unison.

"Eh, it was okay." Naruto added shrugging his shoulders.

Mikoto turned back around in her seat and started the car. It wasn't until Mikoto had made sure that they were all wearing their seatbelts that she reversed out of her parking spot and took off down the road.

While driving home, Mikoto listened to the conversations going on in the back seat and occasionally snuck glances at the three children through the rear-view mirror. Naruto was the loudest and the most talkative. He moved his hands around as he spoke animatedly to Sasuke and Sakura and accidentally hit Sasuke in the face, making Sasuke scowl and Mikoto laugh softly. Although Naruto looked more like his father, Minato, Mikoto could see that he was more like his mother personality-wise.

Mikoto also didn't miss the shy glances that the pink-haired girl on the left kept giving to her youngest son.

* * *

Mikoto loaded the dishwasher while Fugaku sat at the kitchen bench flicking through the newspaper. Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto were playing outside in the backyard and Mikoto paused to watch the three children run around and chase each other, laughing. It made Mikoto's heart swell with happiness to see her son happy and having fun with his friends.

"It's so nice to see Sasuke's made some friends." Mikoto said.

"Yes indeed." Fugaku muttered distractedly, obviously more engrossed with what he was reading than what his wife had to say, making Mikoto frown.

Mikoto continued to watch the kids for a little while longer before speaking again,

"Don't you think Sasuke and Sakura would make a cute couple?"

"What?" Fugaku frowned looking up from his newspaper.

Mikoto smiled. Now she had his attention. "I said don't you think Sasuke and Sakura would make a nice couple?"

Fugaku gave Mikoto a quizzical look. "Mikoto, they're only seven-years-old."

"I know that."

But that didn't stop Mikoto's wistful thinking.

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 _Reviews are appreciated :)_


	3. 13 Years

_13 years_

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"Um, Mrs Uchiha ... c-can I talk to you for a minute?"

Mikoto blinked in surprise at the pink-haired girl leaning over the counter in front of her. "Of course you can, Sakura, what is it?"

"Well, you know how it's Sasuke's birthday tomorrow?"

"Yes, I do know that." Mikoto said smiling teasingly at Sakura.

Sakura flushed red and gave her a half-smile in return. "Ah right. See I was thinking of making him a cake to give to him at school tomorrow so that then we could all sing happy birthday to him at lunch."

Mikoto smiled warmly at the young girl. "That's very nice of you, Sakura."

"Thank you. But I know that Sasuke doesn't like sweets, so I was wondering if you know of any good cake recipes that Sasuke might like?" Sakura asked.

"Well you came to the right person, Sakura. After all the birthday's that have gone by where I've had to bake cakes up to Sasuke's standards, I know just what type of cakes my son likes."

Mikoto turned away from the kitchen bench and stepped over to the cupboards near the walk-in pantry. She opened the top one, which was filled with all different sorts of cook books, all lined up in a neat row. She reached up, sliding on delicate finger over all of the spines until she came to the thinnest one, pulled it out, checked the cover just to be sure it was the right one and carried it back over to Sakura.

"This has all the recipes for cakes that I've made over the years and that Sasuke is quite fond of." She explained as she handed the book to Sakura.

Sakura opened it and began leafing through the pages. It was just a simple notebook, with pages from cook books, torn out and stuck in. "These look really nice. I don't know which one I'll pick."

"I'll give you a hint." Mikoto said leaning over the counter. "Sasuke's particularly fond of the carrot cake."

"Really?"

Mikoto smiled and nodded.

Sakura continued to look through the pages. "So, do you mind I take this home with me tonight so that I can make the cake?"

"Of course not."

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Uchiha." Sakura said with a bright smile.

Mikoto returned the girl's smile. "Not a problem at all, sweetie."

"But could you hold on to it until I leave?" Sakura asked. "I don't want Sasuke to see it, because I want the cake to be a surprise."

"Of course. I'll put it in your bag when Sasuke's not looking."

"Thank you." Sakura closed the book and handed it back to Mikoto.

"There you are, Sakura." Sasuke said as he entered the kitchen with his hands in his pockets. "What are you doing down here?"

"Oh! I was just um ... talking to your mum." Sakura explained hopping off of the stool she had been seated on.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What about?"

"Um..."

"Just girl talk, Sasuke." Mikoto explained waving her hand dismissively. "Nothing you need to worry about, dear."

Sasuke shrugged. "Hn. If you say so."

"Come on, Sasuke, we should go upstairs and finish working on our assignment." Sakura said skipping over to Sasuke's side, strands of her long pink hair bouncing as she did so.

"Alright."

"Great! Let's go!" Sakura grabbed hold of Sasuke's jacket sleeve and started pulling him out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

"Hey, don't pull me, Sakura."

Mikoto couldn't help the laugh that burst forth from her mouth at the scene. "Work hard now!"

"We will!" Came Sakura's enthusiastic voice from the hallway.

Yes, Mikoto was sure that Sakura would make the perfect match for her baby boy.

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 _I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please feel free to leave a review and tell me what you think :)_


	4. 15-16 Years

_15-16 years_

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Along with Naruto, Sakura had always been a very frequent visitor at the Uchiha household, especially since she only lived two blocks away. However, once Sasuke started dating Ino Yamanaka, Sakura's visits became less and less frequent.

This made Mikoto somewhat sad, as she missed Sakura's presence in her home and her cheerful personality. It didn't take a genius to figure out why Sakura had stopped visiting so much once Sasuke got a girlfriend. Mikoto had been well aware of Sakura's feelings for Sasuke since the two of them were children and Mikoto could understand that seeing Sasuke with another girl would not be easy for her. She was young too once and Fugaku had not been her first love. She had experienced the same kind of pain in her youth. It was something that all people must go through at least once in their lives, it is simply a part of growing up.

Of course, Mikoto liked Ino, she was a lovely girl and Sasuke seemed to be happy with her and Sasuke assured her that he still spoke to Sakura at school and kept in contact with her over text and _Facebook_ , but whether you call it mother's intuition or just Mikoto's own wishful thinking, she couldn't help but feel that her son was with the wrong girl.

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Sasuke and Ino broke up about two months into the new year and it wasn't long after that Mikoto heard from Kushina over the phone one afternoon, that Sakura had started dating a new boy at school named Sai, as Naruto had told her. The same day that Mikoto noticed a change in her youngest son's mood. He seemed down, like there was something constantly bothering him. He didn't talk much anymore and as soon as he came home from school, he went straight to his room and didn't usually come down until it was dinner time. His behaviour worried Mikoto, who at first thought that perhaps Sasuke's current change in mood was to do with his break up with Ino, but according to Itachi, who had already asked Sasuke, that wasn't the case. Mikoto even talked to Naruto, since those two boys seemed to share everything with each other, however even Naruto appeared to have no idea about what had gotten Sasuke so down.

Unable to take seeing Sasuke so down all the time and desperate for answers, Mikoto finally decided to confront Sasuke while he was in his room one day after school.

"Sasuke, I'm worried about you." Mikoto said when Sasuke initially refused to tell her anything. "You're father's worried, Itachi's worried, even Naruto's worried."

"You don't need to be worried." Sasuke replied. "There's nothing wrong."

"Oh, Sasuke," Mikoto said gently sitting down beside her son on his bed. "Do you really think you can fool your mother? I know there's something bothering you."

"Hn." Sasuke turned his head away from her.

Mikoto sighed and ran a hand through her son's hair. "Please, Sasuke, just tell me what's wrong. I hate seeing you like this, sweetheart."

Sasuke looked her, saw the pleading expression and her concerned eyes and his face softened. His shoulders sagged and he let out a sigh and Mikoto knew with a small leap of joy that she had gotten through to him.

"It's ... It's Sakura."

"Sakura?" Mikoto repeated surprised.

Sasuke nodded.

"What about her? Did she do something to you?" No matter how much Mikoto liked the girl, if she had done something to hurt her son in a way that would leave him this depressed, she would be having a few words with her.

"No," Sasuke muttered. "She didn't do anything."

"Then what?"

"She ... I... Ugh." Sasuke dropped his head into his hands. "I don't know how to say this."

"It's okay." Mikoto said gently and rubbing his back soothingly. "Just take your time."

"You know how I broke with Ino a while ago?"

"Yes, but Itachi told me you weren't upset about that."

Sasuke shook his head. "I'm not. It was mutual and we're still friends, it's just that..."

"Yes?" Mikoto prompted.

"My reason for wanting to break up with her was ... because of Sakura."

It took only a moment for Mikoto to understand what her son meant.

"So what you mean to say is that, you broke up with Ino because you like Sakura? Is that it?"

Sasuke nodded wordlessly.

"But she was already dating someone else?" Mikoto added.

Sasuke looked at his mother with surprise written on his face. "How did you know?"

"I heard it from Kushina," Mikoto explained, "Naruto told her and you know how she loves to gossip."

"Hn."

"So is that why you have been so upset lately? Because Sakura's seeing another boy?"

"I know it's stupid but I just can't help it." Sasuke explained. "I see them together every day at school and Sakura doesn't even talk to me anymore..."

"What?" This was news to Mikoto. "I thought you told me that you two still kept in contact."

"Not since I broke up with Ino and she started dating Sai."

"Oh honey," Mikoto pulled Sasuke into a firm hug. "You should have told me this."

"Why? What would you have done?"

"I could have helped you. I was a teenager too, I've been through these types of situations before. I could have given you advice. "

"What kind of advice?" Sasuke questioned.

Mikoto pulled away from Sasuke so that she could look at his face. "Well I could have told you that I think that you should talk to Sakura and try to figure things out. Tell her how you feel. I don't mean tell her that you like her if you really don't want to, but just tell her that you miss her, miss talking to her and still want to be friends. I'm sure she still wants to be friends with you."

"How can you be so sure?" Sasuke asked.

Mikoto smiled gently at him and placed her hand on his cheek. "Just trust me."

Sasuke looked at her for a minute or two, as if he were trying to figure out whether or not he should trust her.

"Alright, I'll talk to her tomorrow."

Mikoto smiled and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. "I'm glad." She murmured and stood up to make her way out of her son's bedroom.

"Mum,"

"Hm?"

"Thank you for listening."

"You're welcome sweetheart. And just remember that you can talk to me about anything."

"I will."

With one last smile to her son, Mikoto opened the door and closed it behind her as she walked out.

* * *

The next day, Mikoto had just returned from her jog around the park when her phone vibrated on the kitchen bench.

It was a text message from Sasuke.

 _Don't worry about picking me up today. I'm going to Sakura's house after school._

Mikoto smiled as she read the message once more, before setting her phone down on the counter and going to take a shower.

On her way there, she ran into Itachi who had just emerged from his bedroom, dressed in a pair of grey tracksuit pants and baggy black shirt with his long hair pulled into a messy pony-tail.

Mikoto must have been looking especially happy since Itachi asked her if something good had happened when he saw her.

"It's just I spoke to Sasuke yesterday and it looks like he decided to take my advice." Mikoto explained.

Itachi tilted his head to the side and regarded her with an inquisitive expression. "What kind of advice, Mother?"

"Just some relationship advice."

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 _Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember to leave a review and tell me your thoughts._


	5. 17 Years

_17 years_

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"Sasuke, honey, do you remember when you told me that you liked Sakura?"

Sasuke looked at his mother perplexed. "Yes? Why?"

Mikoto shrugged her shoulders delicately as she folded Fugaku's white golf shirt and added it to the pile of folded laundry. "I was simply wondering if that's still true."

"Is what true?"

"Do you still like Sakura?"

"Of course I do." Sasuke replied evenly. "She's a good friend of mine."

Mikoto sighed and fixed her son with a pointed look. "You know what I mean young man. "

Sasuke chuckled then turned off the T.V when he found nothing good to look at and gave his full attention to his mother. "Why do you want to know?"

"I'm just curious as to why my handsome boy doesn't have a girlfriend despite saying that there is one girl that he likes and that girl just happens to be head-over-heels for him."

Sasuke frowned. "How do you know she's head-over-heels for me?"

"Sasuke," Mikoto said shaking her head. "Anyone can tell that that girl has been in love with you since you were kids." _Even younger than that._ Mikoto added mentally.

Mikoto saw the way Sasuke's frown deepened, which caused her to frown as well at seeing her son look troubled. She set aside the laundry for a moment and went to sit beside Sasuke on the couch.

"What is it, Sasuke?" She asked.

"I'm no good for her." Sasuke said, averting his eyes from his mother's face. "It would be better if she just moved on and find someone else. She should have just stayed with Sai."

"Now why would she do that when she already loves someone else?" Mikoto inquired. "You didn't stay with Ino when you started to like Sakura, did you?"

"That's different."

"How, Sasuke? Tell me how is that different?"

Sasuke didn't reply.

"Exactly. And what is this nonsense that you're not good enough for her?" Mikoto demanded sternly. She was taken aback and cross with the fact that her son seemed to think so lowly of himself.

"It's not nonsense, it's the truth." Sasuke said.

"Rubbish." Mikoto snapped.

Sasuke finally met Mikoto's gaze and he looked a little surprised by her tone of voice.

"I don't ever want to hear you say such things, Sasuke." Mikoto continued. "Any girl would be lucky to have you. Sakura especially. That girl _loves_ you, Sasuke, don't you see that?"

Sasuke hesitated before answering. "I do ... But I still don't think I'm the right person for her. She deserves someone who will make her laugh and will make her genuinely happy and I don't think I can do that. Sure she might be happy at first, but then what's to say if after a while she won't get tired of the way I am?"

"Oh, Sasuke." Mikoto cupped his face and gave him a tender smile. "I can't guarantee that a relationship between the two of you will be perfect or that it will last. But you two have been friends for a long time now and I'm sure you both know each other well. I don't want you to wait until it's too late and then end up regretting it. So have faith in yourself, because if you do something wonderful might come out of it."

Sasuke looked as though he hadn't been expecting to hear such words from his mother. His dark eyes searched her face before dropping to his lap. "I ... I'll think about it."

Mikoto leaned in and kissed her son's forehead. "I know you will." She said. "I know that you're a smart boy so I'm sure you'll come to the right decision."

"Hn."

Mikoto patted Sasuke's cheek before standing up to gather the pile of folded laundry and place it in the basket before carrying it out of the living room.

* * *

That Saturday, Sasuke invites Sakura to spend a day with him out in the city.

Mikoto was in the living room, knitting when she heard a car pull into the drive way and knew that it must be Sakura's parents, since they volunteered to pick them up from the city and then drop Sasuke off at home at the end of the day.

Mikoto puts her knitting aside for the moment and stands up from the couch to take a peek out the window. She sees Sasuke, walking up the drive with Sakura. At first, Mikoto intends to go to the front door and greet them, but when she sees them stop to talk under the veranda, she decides to simply watch.

She can't hear what they are saying and it appears that it is Sasuke who is doing all the talking. Mikoto is thankful that she left the light on in the front veranda as it gives her a chance to see the look on her son's face. He looks shy and a little embarrassed, but by the time he's finished talking, Mikoto can see Sakura's face break out into a wide, delighted smile and she jumps on him, wrapping her slender arms around a stunned Sasuke's neck, while his come to rest uncertainly upon her hips. They stay like that for a while before Sakura pulls away and says one more final word to him, probably saying goodbye, before walking away.

Mikoto is then delightedly surprised to see Sakura run back to Sasuke, who was about to open the door, grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around to face her, before planting a quick kiss to his lips.

Mikoto laughed quietly behind her hand at the comically surprised look on her son's face and the cheeky grin that Sakura gave him before running off again.

When Sasuke is done staring after Sakura, he regains his composure and opens the front door. When Sasuke walks in, Mikoto quickly sits back down and resumes her knitting, attempting to appear as though she hadn't just witnessed what had taken place at her front door.

Sasuke steps into the living room and Mikoto looks up and smiles at him. "Hi, honey, did you have a good time?"

"Yes, it was fun." Sasuke rubs the back of his neck and then fixes his mother with a suspicious look. "Have you just been sitting here the whole time?"

Mikoto looks at him in surprise. "Of course I have. Why?"

"So you didn't see anything out there?"

"No I didn't. Why did something happen?" Mikoto asks feigning innocence.

Sasuke regards her for a moment longer as if he is unsure whether to believe her or not and then shakes his head. "No, it's nothing."

"If you say so dear."

"Hn. I'm tired, I think I'll go to bed now."

"Alright, goodnight, sweet-heart."

"Good night." Sasuke says before turning around and heading up the stairs.

Mikoto watches her son go and smiles.

She knew that he would make the right decision.


	6. 19 Years

_Once again, I would just like to say I'm sorry for the short delay. I don't know what happened, it was probably just a glitch that kept publishing the previous chapter instead of this one. I'd also like to say thanks to those of you who pointed it out to me otherwise I never would have known._

 _Anyway, on with the chapter!_

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 _19 years_

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When they received a phone call one night saying that Sasuke had been in an accident and was in hospital, Mikoto felt like her heart had stopped and when they rushed to the hospital to find Sasuke on that hospital bed, bruised and bloody, she had broken down into tears.

There was a blood stained bandage around Sasuke's head. His cheekbone was bruised a nasty purple colour and multiple cuts and scrapes littered the rest of his face. He had also suffered a broken arm, cracked rib and sprained ankle.

Although the doctor told them that Sasuke would make a full recovery, it had been so terribly hard for Mikoto to see her son in such a condition, and it something that she believed no parent should have to go through.

She was just thankful that he was still alive. They all were.

Mikoto, Fugaku and Itachi stayed with Sasuke for a good while, despite the fact that Sasuke kept drifting in and out of consciousness thanks to the heavy pain medication that the nurses had given him.

The next time Sasuke came to, it was just in time for a certain, distressed, pink-haired young lady to burst into the hospital room, clothes and hair slightly damp from the light downpour outside. She was panting, her cheeks flushed from exertion and her eyes were red and wet with tears.

Mikoto watched from her seat at Sasuke's bedside as Sakura's eyes finally landed on Sasuke. She saw the way her lip trembled and fresh tears spring to her eyes.

"Y-You jerk!" Sakura cried and ran to Sasuke's side, headless of the others in the room, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and cried into the crook of his neck. "You absolute jerk! I come back from holiday only to find that you went and nearly got yourself killed in a car accident! You reckless, reckless jerk." Sakura was practically sobbing at this point. Her whole body trembling as she held Sasuke.

Sasuke looked down at her with a half-lidded dazed expression before slowly lifting his uninjured hand ad placed it on top of Sakura's head.

"M'sorry." He mumbled out groggily.

"You... You should be ... Stupid." Sakura sniffed, not lifting her head from Sasuke's neck.

Mikoto felt her eyes stinging with tears as she looked at the two young people before her and the tender moment they were sharing. They both seemed to be in their own little world where it was only the two of them and nothing else.

Mikoto turned to her husband. "I think we should leave." She whispered.

Fugaku regarded her curiously for a moment, but said nothing and only nodded. Mikoto stood up, taking Fugaku's hand and, along with Itachi, silently exited the hospital room to give Sasuke and Sakura some time alone together.

Just before she stepped out, Mikoto managed to catch Sakura's whispering something along the lines of;

"Don't ever scare me like that again ... I don't ever want to lose you."

Mikoto smiled softly and closed the door behind her.

* * *

Sasuke spent about four more days in the hospital, Mikoto visited him at least once a day to keep him company and see how he was doing. And every time Mikoto went down there, it was always to find Sakura already there, either helping Sasuke to eat his meals, assisting him with getting out of bed and moving about when he needed to or simply just talking to him. Even after Sasuke was released from the hospital, Sakura made regular visits to their household to see how Sasuke was going. Not that any of this surprised Mikoto, since Sakura had always been particularly attentive of Sasuke and it seemed now even more so that the two of them were a couple. She remembered when they were ten and Sasuke had broken his arm in an accident while playing soccer. Sakura had panicked and had been so concerned about Sasuke at the time that she even stayed the night at their house to look after Sasuke. The memory still brought an amused smile to Mikoto's lips.

But it made Mikoto happy nonetheless. Knowing that there was someone who cared about her son. Who was so unconditionally devoted to him. Who worried about him and would look after him.

Mikoto knew that as long as Sakura was by his side, Sasuke would be just fine.

* * *

 _Next chapter will be the last chapter. I never planned for this to be a long fic anyway. I always wanted to keep it short and sweet ;)_

 _Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!_


	7. 25 Years

_I just want to say that I'm sorry this chapter is late, some family stuff came up that I had to see to and then after that I just lost the motivation to for awhile._

* * *

 _25 years_

* * *

Mikoto and Fugaku stepped through the house's threshold and found themselves in an elegant walkway, with polished floorboards and spotless white walls, lined with picture frames.

"We're here!" Mikoto called out. "Where's the birthday girl?"

Almost immediately, a dark-haired little girl, with large red glasses poked her head out from down the hallway and started running towards them as fast her little legs could carry her. "Here! I'm here!" She squealed excitedly.

Mikoto beamed at the sight of her granddaughter. "Hello, Sarada, dear!" Mikoto bent down so that she could give the little girl a hug. "Happy Birthday."

"Hi, Grandma." She gave Mikoto a quick kiss on the cheek before moving onto greet her grandfather. "Hi, Grandpa!"

Fugaku got on one knee so that he could embrace Sarada. "Happy Birthday, Sarada."

Sarada placed a kiss to Fugaku's cheek as well, which made Fugaku smile despite himself and Mikoto chuckled. If anyone could break through Fugaku's cold exterior (beside's Mikoto, of course), it was Sarada.

"What did you get me?" Sarada asked, her black eyes wide with excitement as they darted between the two of them with anticipation.

"Sarada," A new voice spoke up and Mikoto was happy to see it was her son walking towards them, dressed in fashionable gray dress shirt and black pants. "That's not how you speak to your grandparents." Sasuke's voice was a mixture of sternness and amusement as he regarded his daughter. "Just because it's your birthday doesn't mean you can be demanding."

"Ah, sorry, Papa."

Sasuke patted his daughter's head. "Go and help your mother in the kitchen and then you can have your present."

"Okay!" Sarada chirped and then turned around to skip down the hallway.

"She's such a sweet girl." Mikoto said as she watched her granddaughter turn a corner and disappear from sight.

Sasuke nodded. "She is." He then turned his attention back to his parents, kissing his mother on the cheek. "Hello Mother, how are you?"

Mikoto embraced her son, wrapping her arms around his shoulders when he was forced to bend down to return the embrace, since he was now a head taller than her. "I'm well, sweetie and yourself?"

"I'm fine." Sasuke pulled away from the embrace so that he could greet Fugaku.

Sasuke then took the cake box that Fugaku had been carrying and lead his parents down the hallway and into a spacious, very modern-looking living room. Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno were in there, seated on the black leather couch in front of the flat screen. When Mikoto and Fugaku entered, they stood up to come over and greet the parents of their son-in-law while Sasuke walked over to the pristine kitchen to put the cake in the fridge. Sakura was busy pottering around in the kitchen while Sarada stood in the corner watching her mother go about tiding up and waiting to fulfil any requests her mother might have for her.

Sakura popped some plates in the dishwasher before walking around the kitchen bench to come and say hello to Mikoto and Fugaku.

"It's so good to see you." Sakura said pleasantly as she pulled Mikoto in for a quick hug. "I'm so glad the two of you could make it. And thanks for bringing the cake by the way."

"It's our pleasure, dear." Mikoto replied. "Fugaku and I would hate to miss our only grandchild's birthday."

Today was Sarada's fourth birthday. Sasuke and Sakura had just decided to have a small get together, nothing too big or extravagant. They would all be going to a nice family restaurant that Sasuke and Sakura frequented with Sarada. However they didn't have to go until later tonight so for now they were all just going to stay at the young family's house and have Sarada's cake and open her presents.

They were just waiting on Itachi and his fiancé, Izumi (1), who arrived not too long after Mikoto and Fugaku did, and Sarada's godparents, Naruto and his wife Hinata.

About half an hour later, Naruto finally pulled up out the front in his white sedan. Naruto sheepishly explained upon arrival that he took a wrong turn, much to Sasuke and Sakura's exasperation.

The couple also brought along their two children, Boruto, who was the same age as Sarada and absolutely idolized Sasuke, and their one-year-old daughter, Himawari.

Soon after, they all gathered in the dining room and began singing happy birthday to Sarada as Sasuke brought out the cake.

After Sarada blew out her candles, they cut the cake and made sure to have Sarada take a few photos with everyone.

Not long after that, they all left Sasuke and Sakura's home to head to the restaurant.

Mikoto had never been to the restaurant before, since it was relatively new, but her son and his wife assured her that they had some excellent food. Sakura even mentioned there being an especially delicious seafood platter.

Not that Mikoto needed much convincing on the standard of the food. She was already impressed when their waiter brought them their garlic bread and by the time their entrées were brought out, she was completely won over and was pleased to see that her husband appeared to be as well, since he could be so picky when it came to eating food at restaurants. Perhaps they would come here again, just the two of them.

There was even a playground outside for the kids and when Boruto and Sarada weren't eating at the table, they were running around the playground. Mikoto watched on in amusement when Boruto excitedly approached his mother and asked if he could bring Himawari on the playground with them. However, Hinata was hesitant to let Boruto take his little sister onto the playground, out of fear that she might be trampled by the other rambunctious children, but Naruto eventually offered to go out there with them and watch over them as they played and even dragged Sasuke into coming with him, which added to Boruto's excitement.

They left the restaurant at about 8:30, when the children were starting to get tired. As they stepped out into the chilly night air, Mikoto realised that she had left her coat inside.

"I'll go and get it for you." Fugaku offered and turned to go back in.

"Thank you, dear." She called after him.

While Mikoto waited for her husband to return, Itachi and Izumi came up to her to bid her goodbye, before going to say goodbye to Sasuke. Mikoto watched as her son's embraced before Itachi lead Izumi away to where they had their car parked. She continued to watch as Sarada, rugged up in her little red coat and yawning, toddled up to her father and tugged on his pant leg. Wordlessly, Sasuke bent down and scooped his daughter up into his arms and Sarada immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his shoulder.

Sakura finished saying goodbye to her parents and stepped over to her husband and daughter, cooing at the sight of Sarada already sound asleep in Sasuke's arms.

Mikoto let out a contented sigh at the sight.

"What is it?"

Mikoto turned around to see Fugaku standing behind her with her coat in his arms.

"Oh, nothing." Mikoto said as Fugaku proceeded to put her coat on for her. "Thank you." She pressed a tender kiss to his cheek.

"Hn." Was his only reply, but she could see the corners of his mouth lift slightly.

Mikoto smiled and then looked back at Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura was rubbing her daughter's back and speaking to Sasuke in a soft tone of voice, which made it difficult for Mikoto to hear what she was saying from where they stood. Sasuke said something, which made Sakura smile and lean up to kiss his cheek, before they walked towards their car, side by side.

Mikoto smiled wistfully.

It seemed like only the other day, that she was sitting at the park, cradling Sasuke in her arms and watching as the older pink-haired baby tried to grab his attention.

And now here she was, watching them as they walked away, all grown up and happily married, with their own child in Sasuke's arms.

How time flies.

Mikoto then turned to her husband and wrapped her arms around his, leaning her head against his broad shoulder.

"Let's go home."

* * *

 _Aaaaannd... It's finished! :D_

 _I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. Thank you all once again, for your encouraging reviews!_

 _ **(1) Remember after Sasuke and Itachi's final battle when Obito (Tobi) reveals the truth to Sasuke, he mentions that Itachi had a lover whom he killed as well during the massacre? Well in one of the most recent Naruto novels, "Itachi Shinden", that girl's name is Izumi. Although the novels aren't written by Kishimoto and aren't canon, I thought I'd still use the name since in canon, she doesn't have a name at all.**_


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